How to make your own Plastic Vacuum Former

step 1.Gather the Pieces

The main parts to this machine are: -A top; which is the place that the object to be copied is put and the magic PET plastic parts happens. This has holes drilled in it so the suction is about the same over the whole nylon plastic parts surface. -A hollow cavity, like a strong, airtight box. This is to get the same approximate suction on all sheet metal stamping parts of the top -A vacuum cleaner.

step 2.Start Building

First, drill a bunch of little holes in the lid of the jar, spaced about 1/4 of an inch apart. Try to evenly space them in a grid pattern. This will become our "workspace."

step 3.Prepare the Jar

Second, cut a hole in the side of the peanut butter jar just large enough that little more than the tip of the 2 liter bottle top will fit through it.

step 4.Adding the "port"

Then use the knife to cut the top off of the coke bottle, Put the top of the bottle through the hole in the jar from the inside like this.

step 5.Make it Air Tight

Now saran wrap and tape the whole assembly. (Make sure to get saran wrap in the threads of the screw top of the jar.)

step 6.Put a Lid on it!

Put the lid back on the jar. The whole thing should be air tight except for the holes in the top. For plastic, I use the sides of one-gallon water jugs or milk jugs. Cut off the sides of the jugs and clamp them (or hold them somehow) between the two frames.

step 7.Use it

Select what ever object you want to copy. Some tips on selecting objects: -- Make sure that the object is not tapered on the bottom. This will make it impossible to get out of the plastic shell we are making. -- Make sure that the entire object fits on the workspace leaving plenty of holes around the edges.

step 8.Stetch it over the part

Once the plastic is good and saggy, slowly place it over the object. The plastic will stretch over the object. Try to get a good seal all around the object, it should be air tight to get maximum suction. Once the airtight seal is formed, turn on the vacuum. Don't keep it on, just hit it with a good second-long burst.

step 9.Done with Molding

The plastic will suck tight to the object and the workspace. If when you turn off the vacuum cleaner, the plastic is still gooey enough to try to come up slightly, hit it again with another burst from the vacuum cleaner. It should be done by that point. Hold it steady as the plastic totally hardens.

step 10.Clean up the Edges

Cut the extra off and put it in the recycling bin and you are done!